Boy, 13, among four held over police attack shown on social media
Four people, including a 13-year-old boy, have been arrested in connection with the assault of two police officers in Hackney, east London.
A video of the assault has been widely circulated on social media, showing a male officer pinned down on the ground and being kicked, while his female colleague is pushed when she tries to intervene.
Both officers suffered minor injuries in the incident on Wednesday.
Two men, aged 32 and 20, were arrested at the scene on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.
Later that evening, a further arrest was made of a 13-year-old boy and on Thursday a 34-year-old man was arrested.
Det Ch Supt Marcus Barnett said: “Thousands of people, including myself and the officers’ colleagues, have seen the video of this incident circulating on social media and have been horrified by what happened.
“My officers were in the process of making an arrest when they were attacked. They have suffered cuts and bruises, and thank goodness they were not seriously injured. They have been back out at work today, which is testament to their dedication.”
He continued: “Police officers do not come to work to be attacked – I have been an officer for 27 years and incidents such as this still shock me. It is never OK.”
At about 3.30pm on Wednesday, officers on patrol were flagged down by a member of the public.
They told officers that they had just been assaulted and directed them towards the alleged suspect.
As a male officer attempted to speak to those involved, one of the men resisted and a struggle ensued.
A number of other people became involved while the officer was on the ground.
Video footage of the attack shows the men, one with a baseball bat, surround the officers swearing, shouting and filming on their phones, with one even dancing a jig and taking a selfie during the assault.
Home secretary Priti Patel and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, were among those to condemn the attack.
John Apter, the national chairman of the Police Federation, described the attack as “truly stomach churning”, adding: “It’s almost like a hobby for some now to video an attack on a police officer and put it on social media.”
Police have said anyone with information about the attack should call them on 101, quoting reference CAD 4315/10Jun.